Competing are Jason Ho-Shue (Badminton), Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes (Beach Volleyball), Shady El Nahas (Judo), Brittany Crew (Shot Put), Pierce Lepage (Decathlon), Bismark Boateng and Khamica Bingham (Track & Field), and Arthur Szwarc (Indoor Volleyball). Alumna Andrea Prieur, a certified athletic therapist, will be part of the Health Services team.

 - Badminton
A Canadian badminton player from Markham, Ont., Ho-Shue is a student in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. In 2015, he settled triple crowns at the Pan Am Junior Badminton Championships in the boys' singles, doubles and mixed doubles events. He won the bronze medal in the mixed team event. In 2016, he became the youngest Canadian badminton player to win the national title in men's singles event. He also won double titles at the XX Pan Am Individual Championships in men's singles and doubles. Ho-Shue competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He was a gold medalist in the men's doubles event partnered with Nyl Yakura at the 2019 Lima Pan American Games, earning a bronze medal in the men's singles.

 - Beach Volleyball 
Arguably one of Canada's greatest metal threats, Wilkerson attended 91亚色 until 2014 and starred for the women's volleyball team during her time with the Lions. She earned Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) second-team all-Canadian and Ontario University Athletics (OUA) first-team all-star honours for two straight seasons, 2011-12 and 2012-13. The native of Toronto also ranked fourth in the OUA and first on the team in scoring in 2013-14 (3.91 points per set) and sixth in kills per set (3.10), despite starting just 11 matches. Wilkerson's career began on a high note at the beginning of the last decade 鈥� now 29-years-old, she was named 91亚色's female rookie of the year in 2010-11 and earned the OUA rookie of the year award. She was a CIS and OUA all-rookie team member and an OUA East second-team all-star that season.

 - Beach Volleyball
A six-time FIVB Gold Medalist, 12-time FIVB Medalist, five-time Canadian champion, two-time AVP champion, Commonwealth Games champion, and most recently, a world champion, earning the first-ever Gold for Canada, Humana-Paredes is an extremely accomplished volleyball player with roots at 91亚色. Humana-Paredes and her family have been synonymous with the 91亚色 volleyball programs for decades. A 91亚色 alumna, she previously played for four years for the Lions, her brother Felipe was a five-year member of the men's team and their father Hernan Humana was a long-time coach of both teams. Humana-Paredes' Lions career included three OUA all-star honours, a CIS second-team all-Canadian selection and 91亚色's female Athlete of the Year award in 2012. She won back-to-back bronze medals at the U23 world championships, competed at the 2015 Pan Am Games, the FISU Games in 2013, and toured around the world to compete at the FIVB and NORCECA events, winning numerous medals in the process. The team of Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan won the gold medal at the 2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships, defeating the American team of April Ross and Alix Klineman 2-0 for Canada's first-ever medal in the event.

 - Judo
A 23-year-old Canadian from Alexandria, Egypt, El Nahas competed as a wrestler at 91亚色 in 2017, where he went a near-perfect 23-1 in OUA competition with 19 pins. He was a gold medallist at Concordia, McMaster and 91亚色 regular-season events. He was a 2017 91亚色 rookie-of-the-year nominee, and earned the men's wrestling MVP during his only season with the Lions. Since then, El Nahas has achieved considerable success on the international stage. He is a two-time gold medal winner at the Pan American Judo Championships in 2019 and 2020 and also took gold at the 2021 IHF Judo Grand Slam in Tbilisi, Georgia. He has four other medals at Grand Slams, three bronze medals and a silver at 2018 Osaka. At the 2021 World Championships, El Nahas got into a bronze medal match where he lost to Ilia Sulamanidze of Georgia to finish in a tie for fifth.

- Shot Put
Crew is a decorated former Lion with multiple medal-winning performances at international competition and recently earned a slew of impressive awards for 91亚色 at the national stage. A 27-year-old shot putter from Toronto, Ontario, Crew graduated from 91亚色 in 2019 with a degree in kinesiology and health science. She is a three-time gold medallist at the U SPORTS Championships (2015, 2016 and 2019) and earned bronze at the 2015 FISU Summer Universiade in South Korea. Crew was rewarded in each of those gold-level seasons with the 91亚色 female Athlete of the Year award in 2015, 2016, and 2019. She set a U SPORTS record for shot put with a 16.96m toss at 2016 nationals, then broke her own record in 2019, launching a 17.56m throw. She out threw her nearest competition by more than two metres en route to winning the event. Crew returns to the Olympics for a second time after donning the red and white in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

 - Decathlon
The 25-year-old runner from Whitby, Ont., graduated from 91亚色 in 2019 with a degree in interdisciplinary social science. It was also a landmark year for Lepage because he struck gold at three different events at the 91亚色-hosted OUA championships, winning in 60m hurdles, long jump, and high jump. At the 2019 U SPORTS championships, he earned gold in 60m hurdles and long jump. He was also part of the silver medal-winning 4x200m relay team, and won bronze in high jump. Lepage was named 2019 91亚色 male Athlete of the Year. At international events, Lepage is known for competing as a decathlete, routinely reaching the podium on the world stage. In his first decathlon of 2019, LePage scored a personal best 8453 points to win the Decastar meet in June, which gave him the decathlon qualifying standard for Tokyo 2020. He shared the podium with Canadian teammate Damian Warner at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, winning bronze, after a silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. LePage did not compete in the decathlon in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2021, LePage attended the famed Hypo-meeting in G枚tzis, Austria and won silver with a personal-best of 8534 points.

 - Track & Field
The 29-year-old Canadian from Accra, Ghana wasn't always a track & field athlete. He began his post-secondary athletic career with the Rams as a soccer player, but eventually discovered track and transferred to 91亚色 to join the team. His sprinting career took off from there, proving he made a wise decision. He struck gold in 60m at the CIS Championships in 2015 and took home silver in 2016. Internationally, Boateng was part of the gold medal 4x100m relay winning team at the 2018 NACAC Championships in Toronto.

 - Track & Field
A 2020 humanities graduate, the 27-year-old sprinter from Brampton, Ont., has played a key role in Canada's Olympic efforts since she joined Canada nationally. She is a two-time medallist in the Pan American Games, earning a silver with Canada at Lima 2019 and a bronze at Toronto 2015. Bingham made her Olympic debut at Rio 2016 where she anchored the 4x100m relay team to a sixth-place finish, in what was Canada's first Olympic final in the event since Los Angeles 1984. She missed advancing to the 100m semifinals by just one place. In 2013, she represented Canada at the Universiade, finishing fourth in the 100m semis.

 - Indoor Volleyball
Szwarc was a Lion for two seasons, earning accolades in both years for men's volleyball. His team won an OUA bronze medal in 2015 and he was named a CIS second team all-star in 2016. While at 91亚色, he also represented Canada at the 2015 Universiade and FIVB Junior World Championship and won bronze at the 2015 U21 Pan Am Cup. Szwarc turned pro in 2017, joining French club Arago de S猫te for two seasons and being named the Best Middle Blocker of Ligue A in 2018. He then moved to Italian side, Top Volley Cisterna. In January 2020, Szwarc was named best middle blocker at the NORCECA Continental Qualifier as Canada went undefeated to secure their spot at Tokyo 2020.

Athletic therapist

Joining the Canadian Olympic team is alumna聽Andrea Prieur, a certified athletic therapist who will be part of the Health Services team. Prier will be working hard to keep Team Canada healthy during this very unusual Olympic Games. A 91亚色 alumna, she earned a certificate in sport therapy in 1997. She is well-versed in major multisport events, having served as a therapist at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games; at several Pan American Games, including most recently in 2015; and at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2014. She has also worked as part of the integrated support team for the Canadian diving team since 2010 for events around the world. She was also Team Canada's chief therapist for the 2019 FISU (International University Sports Federation) Summer Games.

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Paul Jones

Jones, who played for 91亚色 from 1977 to 1981 and is now well known as the voice of the National Basketball Association's聽Toronto Raptors on FAN 590 radio broadcasts in Toronto, will serve as the play-by-play announcer for the women鈥檚 basketball competition. He will be located聽in the Toronto studio alongside Chantal Vallee. Vallee is the head coach of the Windsor Lancers women鈥檚 basketball team, leading the squad to the gold medal at each of the last two Canadian Interuniversity Sport聽championships.

In his four years with the 91亚色 Yeomen, Jones won three provincial titles and was awarded the Kitch McPherson Trophy as most valuable player of the Ontario championship game in 1981. A two-time Ontario University Athletics Association聽all-star (1980, 1981), he participated in the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union聽national championship tournament four times and won two bronze medals in 1978 and 1979. In 1983, he won a silver medal as a member of the team that represented Canada in the Commonwealth Basketball Tournament in New Zealand.

He graduated from 91亚色 in 1980 with a bachelor of science degree in physical education.

At the Olympics, which begin on Friday, July 27, Team Canada鈥檚 women鈥檚 basketball squad will compete in Pool B along with Australia, Brazil, France, Great Britain and Russia and will play five round robin games before the medal round begins. The first game is scheduled for Saturday, July 28 at 6:15am Eastern Time聽against the Russians.

Pool B 鈥� Canadian Preliminary Schedule (all times ET)

Sat. July 28 vs. Russia @ 6:15am

Mon. July 30 vs. Great Britain @ 3pm

Wed. Aug. 1 vs. France @ 4am

Fri. Aug. 3 vs. Brazil @ 9:30am

Sun. Aug. 5 vs. Australia @ 9:30am

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Blow by Blow: The Second Annual Donald Sanderson Memorial Symposium on Sport Concussion聽is open to the public 鈥� athletes, coaches, parents,聽researchers and anyone interested in the聽physical and psychological impact head injuries can have on individuals and their families.

91亚色鈥檚 School of Kinesiology & Health Science will host the two-hour evening event, which will bring sports medicine and brain researchers together with athletes to discuss an injury that continues to impair the careers and health of both amateur and professional athletes 鈭� most recently, hockey champion Sidney Crosby.

The symposium is held in honour of Donald Sanderson, the 91亚色 kinesiology student and promising hockey player who died Jan. 2, 2009 as a result of a head injury during a Whitby Dunlops game.聽

聽聽聽聽 Right: Matt Dunigan

"Educating our student athletes about head injuries is critical,鈥� says Cindy Hughes, manager of the Gorman/Shore Sport Injury Clinic in 91亚色鈥檚 School of Kinesiology & Health Science, who helped organize the symposium. 鈥淭hey need to understand the importance of reporting a possible concussion right away so they can receive the proper care."

, a game analyst with TSN since 1996, played football for 14 years on five Canadian teams and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2006. He retired from football in 1996 after suffering at least a dozen diagnosed concussions, and continues to struggle with the long-term effects of those concussions. He will speak about the post-concussive symptoms he has experienced since retirement and the effect of concussion on himself and his family, as well as the importance of reporting concussion and taking it seriously. A champion of research on sport concussion, Dunigan announced last spring that upon his death his brain will be donated to Toronto鈥檚 Krembil Neuroscience Centre.

Dahna Sanderson, who established the Donald Sanderson Memorial Trust Fund in memory of her son, will also speak during the symposium. A sports mom and fan for 20 years, she coached professional figure skating and is passionate about sports and sports safety.聽

is a primary care sport medicine specialist, certified in family and sports medicine in Canada and the US. Currently practising in Burlington, he has been a junior hockey team physician for the past decade in Canada and the US. He is a research chair of the Hockey Neurotrauma and Concussion Initiative Research Committee and is primary investigator of the Hockey Concussion Education Project.聽

Lauren Sergio is a professor in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health. A neuroscientist, she studies the effects of age, sex, neurological disease, head injury and experience (茅lite versus non-茅lite athletes) on the brain鈥檚 control of complex movement. She works with a wide range of adults, from NHL draft prospects to Alzheimer鈥檚 disease patients, using behavioural and brain imaging techniques.聽

Left: Lauren Sergio

Roy McMurtry, 91亚色 chancellor and former chair and chief executive officer of the Canadian Football League, will deliver opening remarks. Award-winning CBC sports reporter Teddy Katz will MC the event.聽

The symposium takes place in the Price Family Cinema, Accolade East Building, from 7 to 9pm. Admission is free, but registration is required. To register and for more information on speakers, visit the symposium website.

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The federation is making the change 鈥� which affects players between the ages of 6 and 21 鈥� in an effort to create a safer environment for new players to develop skills. The rule change affects house league and select players in most of the province, though Ottawa and Thunder Bay aren't governed by the OHF.

91亚色 health professor Alison Macpherson, who was among the first researchers to call for bodychecking to be disallowed in recreational hockey, called it a great first step. "I know some parents keep their kids out of hockey, especially out of competitive hockey, because they worry about the injuries that might ensue when kids are allowed to bodycheck," she said Thursday.

Until now parents who wanted their child to play non-contact hockey didn鈥檛 have many options, said Macpherson. 鈥淭here is pretty good scientific evidence that bodychecking, especially under the bantam level (age 13-14), leads to injury in youth ice hockey,鈥� she said.

A study published last year found kids who were bodychecked were about 2.45 times more likely to suffer an injury than kids who didn鈥檛 play with body contact and 1.7 times more likely to suffer a concussion, she said. 鈥淜ids are more likely to play if they think they鈥檙e not going to get hurt,鈥� said Macpherson. 鈥淲hich is great because we have an obesity epidemic.鈥�

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The era of sports specialization at a young age is upon us, despite alarm bells sounded by medical professionals who say we are putting young athletes at risk of burnout and overuse injuries at ever younger ages. Their young bodies rebel.

. . .

The irony in the sports specialization trend, according to Joe Baker, a professor in 91亚色鈥檚 School of Kinesiology & Health Science in the Faculty of Health, is that there鈥檚 simply no evidence to suggest specialization at a young age improves an athlete鈥檚 chance of success, wrote the Vancouver Sun Oct. 16. In fact, the evidence is that the majority of successful athletes come from what he calls a 鈥渟ampling background,鈥� meaning they have played a variety of sports.

Baker said he鈥檚 talked to elite coaches around the world who have told him that athletes who don鈥檛 have exposure to a variety of sports and unstructured play lack fundamentals.

鈥淭hey are good at performing motor skills associated with their sport, but they can鈥檛 creatively experience or creatively demonstrate something novel.鈥�

Indeed, research suggests that playing a sport in an unstructured way improves one鈥檚 chances of excelling at it later on. A German study comparing soccer players who were involved exclusively in structured training to those involved in unstructured play found the latter group to be more creative on the field.

鈥淚f you look at hockey players and the types of training they do when they are really young, they play a lot of structured hockey. But if you look at the bulk of their time, it鈥檚 road hockey, it鈥檚 pond hockey, it鈥檚 pickup scrimmage games with the neighbourhood kids,鈥� Baker said.

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, a collection of over 50 poems, will launch Tuesday, October 19, at 7:30 pm, at The Boat, 158 Augusta Ave. in Toronto鈥檚 Kensington Market. It is also the 10th anniversary launch party for Mansfield Press. All royalties from the sale of聽Uppal's book will go to help support athletes through , which helped fund about 80 per cent of the athletes at the Games.

The book contains haikus and other poems about the Olympic athletes and their beloved sports 鈥� whether curling, skeleton, skiing or hockey 鈥撀燼nd includes some poems Uppal wrote when she took in the Arctic Games, in between the Olympics and the Paralympics. It鈥檚 being hailed as a mingling of physical and verbal acrobatics and a dazzling competition of risky play, inventive movements and daring heights.

Left: Priscila Uppal embracing the Olympic torch as the Canadian Athletes Now Fund poet-in-residence. Photo by Chistopher Doda

鈥淪o much about poetry is having surprising language and using it in unique ways,鈥� says (BA Hons. 鈥�97, PhD 鈥�04).聽 Watching Olympic athletes compete and marvelling over the strange terms attached to each sport 鈥� what Uppal calls athletic language full of metaphors and symbols 鈥撀爂ave her plenty of inspiration.

She聽says the poems are accessible and amusing, and were also fun to write. Winter Sport: Poems would be of interest to sports lovers, Olympics lovers, poetry lovers, 补苍诲听English and physical education teachers, as well as young reluctant readers, she says. CBC Radio featured many of her poems over the course of the Games after fans called in requesting more, as did CAN Fund and the athletes themselves.

"While some people were skeptical about elite athletes responding to poetry," Uppal admits, "the Olympians ended up being one of my most welcoming audiences ever. Every day they asked for more copies of poems and looked forward to the performances. The summer Olympians have encouraged me to take up my post in 2012 in London to write the companion volume, Summer Sport: Poems."

Right: Priscila Uppal dons her own team shirt while watching speedskating at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. Photo by Chistopher Doda

Gil Adamson, author of The Outlander and Ashland, says 鈥淔rom one of Canada鈥檚 most dynamic poets come sports poems that are playful, funny, and full of trick moves. Uppal鈥檚 wordplay is as muscular as the athletes she celebrates.鈥�

In addition to Uppal鈥檚 new book, the evening will launch Imagining Toronto by Amy Lavender Harris, a 91亚色 geography faculty member in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies; Goodbye, Ukulele by Leigh Nash (BA Hons. 鈥�04), a former student of Uppal鈥檚; At the Gates of the Theme Park by Peter Norman; and Stray Dog Embassy by Natasha Nuhanovic.

Left: Priscila Uppal has a Canadian moment. Photo by Chistopher Doda

Uppal's books include which , (which was shortlisted for the $50,000 Griffin Poetry Prize), and , and of the novels and . She is the editor of 补苍诲听 and the author of .

For more information or to order the book, visit the or websites.

To read a few of Uppal鈥檚 sports poems, visit the website.

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Right: Alyn McCauley

Many of McCauley鈥檚 concussions occurred when he was a junior player, before he played a single NHL game, including one that sidelined him for about half of the 1998-1999 season as an up-and-coming hockey star 鈥� he won the Canadian Hockey League player of the year award in 1996-1997. He went on to play with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings, but concussion issues continued to plague him and affect his contributions on the ice.

The Blow by Blow: Sport Concussion Management symposium will run tomorrow from 6:30 to 8:30pm in the Tribute Communities Recital Hall, in the Accolade East Building on 91亚色's Keele campus.

The symposium is in memory of (left), a former 91亚色 student who died from an injury sustained from a concussion during a hockey game last year. Donald fell during a fight, hit his head and went into a coma until he died a few weeks later. The Donald Sanderson Memorial Trust Fund has donated funds toward the symposium and the School of Kinesiology & Health Science鈥檚 annual student awards to help share important knowledge about concussion management. Dahna Sanderson, Donald鈥檚 mother, will deliver the opening remarks at the symposium.

Among the speakers is Professor Jason Mihalik (right)聽of the Department of Exercise & Sport Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, whose primary interest involves the study of sport-related neurotraumatic injuries, with a particular emphasis on youth head and neck injury biomechanics. Mihalik will talk about recognizing and managing trauma. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Athletic Therapists Association and is a member of the National Athletic Trainers鈥� Association. He also serves on the editorial board for Athletic Training聽& Sports Health Care and is the research director for the J. Pat Evans Research Foundation.

Alison MacPherson (left)聽of 91亚色鈥檚 School of Kinesiology & Health Science, who has a long-standing interest in childhood injury research, will discuss the epidemiology of sports-related concussions 鈥� incidence, risk factors and prevention. In Ontario, over 6,000 youth and children were seen in emergency departments for a sport-related concussion between 2002 and 2005. Concussions were most common among 14-, 15- and 16-year-olds playing hockey, followed by bicycling, skiing/snowboarding and football.

MacPherson has been involved with research related to childhood injuries in general, and bicycle-related and sport-related injuries specifically. She is the co-principal investigator of the -funded study on child and youth injury prevention. She was the first recipient of the Faculty of Health Early Career Research Award and has served as a reviewer and author for the World Health Organization report on child injury prevention. She is also a member of the 鈥檚 Board of Directors and 鈥檚 Scientific Advisory Committee.

Also speaking at the symposium is Dr. Paul Piccininni (right), a sports medicine staff member at 91亚色 and team dentist for the Mississauga St. Michaels Majors of the Ontario Hockey League. He聽will give an update on mouthguards. He has worked at the last nine Summer and Winter Olympic Games, including Vancouver 2010, and has coordinated medical services for world championships, including聽basketball and ice hockey. He is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation Medical Committee and the International Olympic Committee Medical Commission (Games Group), president of the International Society for Dentistry, Sport & Trauma, and is a Fellow of the Academy for Sports Dentistry.

The symposium costs $20 per person and is free for youth under 17 and all 91亚色 students with ID. The location is fully accessible. Light refreshments will be served. Parking is free to registered participants in the Student Services Parking Garage.

To register online, click . For registration information, contact Rumina Habib, registration and convocation assistant in the Division of Continuing Education, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, at ext. 44617 or dce@yorku.ca.

For additional information about the event, contact Cindy Hughes, head athletic therapist/manager of the Sport Injury Clinic at the School of Kinesiology & Health Science,聽at ext. 77232 or chughes@yorku.ca.

The conference was covered in the Toronto Star's section Aug. 31.

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He understands their fears. Participating in sports can lower the blood sugar levels of people with Type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes. But Riddell said exercise is important for people with Type 1 diabetes. Studies indicate keeping active can add as much as 10 years to their lives and reduce the chance of complications of diabetes.

鈥淲e know exercise is critical. We just have to make sure they can do it safely,鈥� said Riddell, a world renowned diabetes and exercise physiologist and professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health.

Riddell, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 14 and regularly engages in competitive sports, runs an elite summer sports camp at the university. About a third to half of the campers have Type 1 diabetes and the camp teaches them how exercise can be used to better manage their disease.

On the eve of this year鈥檚 camp, which began Monday, July 19, Riddell鈥檚 team of researchers in the International Journal of Pediatrics looking at the interaction of sports and blood sugar levels.

For the study, which Riddell said is the first in the world to examine these interactions in a real-life setting, last year鈥檚 campers were outfitted with round-the-clock glucose monitors both while they played tennis, basketball and soccer at camp, and during their time at home, including while they slept.

The study is also important for high-performance athletes without diabetes who can see their blood sugar levels plummet during extreme sports, he added.

The complete article is available on . Riddell's research is funded by the (NSERC), Medtronic Canada and Can-Am Care.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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A new study led by 91亚色 researchers finds that young athletes with Type 1 diabetes may experience a marked decrease in performance as a result of their blood sugar levels.

Above: The 91亚色 study found that sport skill performance for young atheletes with Type 1 diabetes was highest when blood glucose levels were in the normal glycemic range.

The study, published in the , reports that participants鈥� athletic prowess was sapped by low blood glucose, a condition known as hypoglycemia. Their cognitive abilities also declined as a result.

鈥淧hysical activity itself is unfortunately one of the factors that can cause this dip in blood sugar to occur,鈥� says lead researcher Michael Riddell, associate professor in 91亚色鈥檚 School of Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health.

鈥淧arents tend to get quite concerned about this, understandably so,鈥� says Riddell (left), who was diagnosed with the disease at age 14 and regularly engages in competitive sports. 鈥淭hey wonder, 鈥榮hould I have my child enrolled in sports at all? Is vigorous activity safe?鈥� Our results show that those with diabetes can compete on equal ground, provided they learn to manage their condition.鈥�

The study is the first to examine these interactions in a real-life setting. Researchers outfitted participants with 24-7 glucose monitors during a week-long diabetes sports camp at 91亚色, testing their skills in tennis, basketball or soccer at various times during the day and recording blood sugar levels. Participants, who ranged in age from 6 to 17, were even monitored as they slept using this new technology. Data for the study was recorded during last summer鈥檚 camp; it will run again this year starting July 19.

Researchers found that sport skill performance was highest when blood glucose values were in a 鈥渘ormal鈥� glycemic range. During hyperglycemia 鈥� or elevated blood sugar 鈥� results were only slightly reduced. This occurred nearly universally across all participants, however results suggest the degree to which one鈥檚 sport performance deteriorates depends on the individual.

鈥淪ome subjects showed only minor reductions in performance with hypoglycemia while others showed much greater impairment,鈥� Riddell says. 鈥淭his could be related to the level of blood glucose concentration, the rate at which glucose drops, and the individual鈥檚 capacity to maintain focus in the face of all these factors.鈥�

Regular exercise is known to be beneficial for people with diabetes, but can make glycemic control challenging. This balance is even more difficult to achieve in adolescents, as insulin requirements are influenced by fluctuating nutritional intake, physical activity levels, and the rhythms of other anti-insulin hormones. Adding to the confusion is that the symptoms of low or high blood glucose are often masked by exercise, because they鈥檙e so similar: increased heart rate, sweating, shakiness, fatigue and dehydration.

鈥淎ny obvious issues with performance 鈥� poor passing, failed free throws and serves 鈥� that are really out of the ordinary should be a warning sign to check blood glucose levels and add carbohydrates,鈥� Riddell says. The best way to boost blood sugar levels is to consume about 15-30 grams of a fast-acting carbohydrate, such as dextrose tablets, juice or a sports drink. 鈥淭hese are rapidly absorbed and immediately replenish the very small reserve of glucose normally found in the blood stream,鈥� he says.

Incidents of moderate to severe hypoglycemia were common on the evenings following sports camp participation. However, researchers found no evidence that a bout of nocturnal hypoglycemia influences sport skill performance the following day. Cognitive testing also showed that participants鈥� reading ability was lower during episodes of hypoglycemia, as was the ability to distinguish and name colours.

Riddell notes the importance of conducting this type of field research, as opposed to lab-based studies. 鈥淎ctually playing a sport involves different cognitive processing, reaction time and motor skill performance,鈥� he says.

The paper, 鈥淏lood glucose levels and performance in a sports camp for adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus: A field study鈥� is co-authored by Dylan Kelly, a McMaster University undergraduate student under Riddell鈥檚 supervision, and Dr. Jill Hamilton, pediatric endocrinologist, The , University of Toronto.

The research was supported by the (NSERC), Medtronic Canada and Can-Am Care.

By Melissa Hughes, media relations officer, with photos courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin..

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Spotting the unexpected countries is what Seth Feldman, director of 91亚色鈥檚 Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies and a film professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Fine Arts, loves most about the World Cup in Canada. 鈥淵ou don't expect to see as many Argentine flags as you do, or flags from the African countries, or Chilean flags, for that matter,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 always like that kind of mix that comes out of this.鈥�

In Canada's large urban centres, Feldman said, there is more of an openness to accept multiculturalism than there is in other western nations, such as the United States. 鈥淵ou don't feel like you're betraying Canada by cheering for Italy or Argentina or Germany.鈥�

There's also a simple reason for the lack of Canadian flags flapping around now, Feldman said. 鈥淚t's just something about Canada not qualifying for the World Cup,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f Canada ever did, you'd see an awful lot of Canadian flags out.鈥�

The Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies promotes and supports interdisciplinary and discipline specific research pertinent to the study of Canada. Over the years the Centre has expanded to encompass a theme of "Canada in the World."

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post Professor Seth Feldman: World Cup flags show Canada's openness to multiculturalism appeared first on Research & Innovation.